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New Labour leader Keir Starmer vows to lead party into 'new era'

Say Good Bye to the Labour Party

Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to lead Labour "into a new era with confidence and hope" after decisively winning the contest to succeed Jeremy Corbyn.The 57-year old defeated Lisa Nandy and Rebecca Long-Bailey in a ballot of party members and other supporters.The lawyer, who became an MP in 2015, won on the first round of voting, with more than 50% of ballots cast.After his victory, Sir Keir spoke to PM Boris Johnson and agreed to meet next week to discuss the coronavirus crisis.In a video message released by the Labour Party, Sir Keir promised to work constructively in opposition and said he hoped Labour "when the time comes can serve our country again - in government".And he apologised for the "stain" of anti-Semitism that has tainted Labour in recent years. He pledged to "tear out this poison by its roots" and said his success would be judged on whether former Jewish members return to Labour.The full results of the leadership contest were:

Sir Keir Starmer - 275,780 votes (56.2%).

Rebecca Long-Bailey - 135,218 votes (27.6%)

Lisa Nandy - 79,597 votes (16.2%)

Just over 490,000 people voted, out of the 784,151 eligible to take part in the three-month contest triggered by Mr Corbyn's decision to step down after Labour's heavy defeat in last year's general election.Sir Keir won a majority in every section of Labour's selectorate, including 78% of the 13,000 registered supporters who paid a one-off £25 fee to take part.

Meanwhile, shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner has been elected deputy leader, replacing Tom Watson, who stood down as an MP before the election. She defeated four other candidates but the contest was much closer, going to a third round of voting.The 40-year old Ms Rayner beat Rosena Allin-Khan and Richard Burgon in a third round of voting, after fellow MPs Ian Murray and Dawn Butler had earlier been eliminated.Saturday's result was announced by e-mail after plans for a public event were dropped due to the coronavirus crisis.

Sir Keir has described himself as a socialist but not a Corbynite, and vowed to keep key policies from the Corbyn era, such as nationalising rail, mail and water and repealing anti-union laws, in a 10-point plan.The MP for Holborn and St Pancras, in London, had been the odds-on favourite to win the contest, having received the backing of more MPs and local Labour branches than his rivals as well as significant union support.He led the Crown Prosecution Service before entering frontline politics. He served in Mr Corbyn's top team for more than three years where he was responsible for the party's Brexit policy.His two rivals paid tribute to him, Mrs Long-Bailey saying he would be make "brilliant prime minister" and she "would do all she could to make that a reality".Ms Nandy said she was proud of her campaign and offered Labour's new leader her "full support in the challenges that lie ahead". "Our country is crying out for fresh leadership. We start today."'Constructive opposition'

Sir Keir's first task will be to lead Labour's response to the coronavirus emergency, and he has accepted an invitation to take part in cross-party talks with the prime minister and the government's top scientific advisers next week, to "work together" on the crisis.He has already spoken to England's Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty and Simon Stevens, the chief executive of NHS England, about the current situation.Sir Keir said he had been elected "at a moment like no other" and promised to work "constructively" with the government to confront the pandemic and not engage in "opposition for opposition's sake".

David Lammy says his election win is “good news for the country”But he added: "We will shine a torch on critical issues and where we see mistakes or faltering government or things not happening as quickly as they should we'll challenge that and call that out."Our purpose when we do that is the same as the government's, to save lives and to protect our country."Mr Corbyn congratulated his successor and said he looked forward to working with him to "elect the next Labour government and transform our country".Other prominent Labour figures have welcomed Sir Keir's decisive victory, with former leader Ed Miliband saying "his decency, values and intelligence are what our country needs at this time of crisis".Labour MP David Lammy, who backed Sir Keir's candidacy, said he was "ecstatic" about the outcome.Outgoing shadow chancellor John McDonnell, who backed Ms Long-Bailey, urged the party to "unite now as a movement to achieve our socialist aim".Sir Keir received an early boost after his supporters won effective control of Labour's National Executive Committee, the party's ruling body, following a series of separate elections.The BBC's political editor Laura Kuenssberg said Sir Keir's team had not been expecting a clean sweep and it would make it much easier for him to run the party and make any changes he wanted.​

My promise to you is that I will maintain our radical values and work tirelessly to get Labour in to power – so that we can advance the interests of the people our party was created to serve. Based on the moral case for socialism, here is where I stand.

1. Economic justice
Increase income tax for the top 5% of earners, reverse the Tories’ cuts in corporation tax and clamp down on tax avoidance, particularly of large corporations. No stepping back from our core principles.

2. Social justice
Abolish Universal Credit and end the Tories’ cruel sanctions regime. Set a national goal for wellbeing to make health as important as GDP; Invest in services that help shift to a preventative approach. Stand up for universal services and defend our NHS. Support the abolition of tuition fees and invest in lifelong learning.

3. Climate justice
Put the Green New Deal at the heart of everything we do. There is no issue more important to our future than the climate emergency. A Clean Air Act to tackle pollution locally. Demand international action on climate rights.

4. Promote peace and human rights
No more illegal wars. Introduce a Prevention of Military Intervention Act and put human rights at the heart of foreign policy. Review all UK arms sales and make us a force for international peace and justice.

5. Common ownership
Public services should be in public hands, not making profits for shareholders. Support common ownership of rail, mail, energy and water; end outsourcing in our NHS, local government and justice system.

6. Defend migrants’ rights
Full voting rights for EU nationals. Defend free movement as we leave the EU. An immigration system based on compassion and dignity. End indefinite detention and call for the closure of centres such as Yarl’s Wood.

7. Strengthen workers’ rights and trade unions
Work shoulder to shoulder with trade unions to stand up for working people, tackle insecure work and low pay. Repeal the Trade Union Act. Oppose Tory attacks on the right to take industrial action and the weakening of workplace rights.

8. Radical devolution of power, wealth and opportunity
Push power, wealth and opportunity away from Whitehall. A federal system to devolve powers – including through regional investment banks and control over regional industrial strategy. Abolish the House of Lords – replace it with an elected chamber of regions and nations.

9. Equality
Pull down obstacles that limit opportunities and talent. We are the party of the Equal Pay Act, Sure Start, BAME representation and the abolition of Section 28 – we must build on that for a new decade.

10. Effective opposition to the Tories
Forensic, effective opposition to the Tories in Parliament – linked up to our mass membership and a professional election operation. Never lose sight of the votes ‘lent’ to the Tories in 2019. Unite our party, promote pluralism and improve our culture. Robust action to eradicate the scourge of antisemitism. Maintain our collective links with the unions.

They were buried there by Corbyn; huge task for Starmer to bring the hard left into line, he might need to brandish a cleaver, and then a long way to turn the party into a stiffer opposition than either side are used to.

Bojo will no doubt lend a hand by fcuking up the virus response, and then there's Brexit!

Despite being so far left as to scare most normal people, not counting TDs most fearless, Corbyn had his best chance at PM in 2017 against May; he didn't make it, but did inherit a position on Brexit which became increasingly attractive as May went from fluffing to full on betrayal. Weeks through months as this happened, he had every opportunity to build a strong opposition, even from the scary left, but failed by allowing his Brexit secretary (Starmer, fanatical Remain) to manoeuvre him into trying to please both sides with no position at all, which satisfied only those devoted to scuttling Brexit.

So, Tories had a Remainer PM supervising Brexit with no intention to deliver, while Labour in opposition had a Brexit leader with a Remainer Brexit secretary. How fcuked up is that!

Still think Corbyn's a cnut and UK's better off with him in oblivion, but in terms of Brexit he had every opportunity to perform better than he did.

Now that Starmer has the conn some lines are drawn, and most everyone knows which side everyone else is on; or should, since I can't imagine too many people, even Tories, trust Bojo to deliver, while Starmer is going straight uphill to overcome the stigma of Corbyn, Abbott and other jokers; iow, nothing is as it should be, no lessons learned, and while it's easy to blame the virus even without it I really couldn't see anything positive in UK politics over the next few years.

Maybe a few more weeks in isolation will produce some brighter illusions.